Remarkable numbers of fish once inhabited coral reefs, but those numbers have been dramatically reduced because of overfishing. Many species that were once abundant are now rare or extinct so that, in turn, other species are then targeted. When too many fish are taken, there are no longer enough fish available to replenish the population.
Because of global warming, overfishing and pollution, the reefs themselves are at risk. Due to the loss of the reef inhabitants and the resultant growth of seaweed no longer kept in check by grazing fish, bacteria can take over. The reefs that should "snap and crackle continuously with the bustle of fish, snapping shrimps" are growing quiet. According to an article about the state of the oceans in the Guardian newspaper, mass bleaching of coral reefs could occur over the next two years because of the arrival of El Nino in the Indo-Pacific. Because every pair of El Nino events since 1997 have led to global mass bleaching of reefs, experts are afraid that we may now be reaching a tipping point. Reef species will die and as much as twenty-five per cent of the ocean biodiversity would be at risk. Coral Reefs: A Natural History by Charles Sheppard was published by Princeton University Press in 2021. The Guardian newspaper article by Karen McVeigh was published on December 7, 2023.
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Recently a Navy Poseidon plane overshot a runway, plunging into Hawaii's Kaneohe Bay and plowing into a coral reef. The Navy placed a floating barrier around it to protect the reef from hazardous materials as well as draining the remaining fuel from the plane. The area, known for snorkeling, fishing, and swimming, had "only recently recovered from sewage spills in the 1960s and '70s" and was also "suffering the effects of climate change and overfishing."
Less dramatic damage happens every day when boat anchors drag across coral reefs. In places where fishing fleets or vacationers in boats congregate, significant damage to seagrass beds and reefs can occur. Every tidal cycle scraps the area within the circumference surrounding the anchor and this can happen multiple times as the boats are moved and anchored again. Large ships can destroy a much greater area, often requiring many decades for the reefs to recover. The information in the first paragraph is from Livia Albeck-Ripka's article "U.S. Navy Works to Salvage Plane From Fragile Hawaiian Bay" in the December 1, 2023 edition of the New York Times. The source for the section on anchoring is Coral Reefs: A Natural History by Charles Sheppard and published by Princeton University Press in 2021. |
AuthorI am a Northwest artist making collages from mulberry papers stamped by hand from original images that I have carved. Archives
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